1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to interactive television, and more particularly, the convergence of interactive television and wireless technologies in networks based on interactive television.
2. Description of the Related Art
Television service providers, such as a satellite broadcaster or a cable multiple system operator (MSO), transmit audio-video streams to a viewer's television system. The viewer's television system frequently consists of a set-top box connected to a television set and a recording device, but may consist of any number of suitable devices. In addition to the audio and video that viewers typically think of as television programs, television service providers may transmit additional information as well. For example, the additional information may be instructions which are interpreted by an interpreter or virtual machine. Alternatively, a service provider may transmit HTML data for rendering by a presentation engine. If the broadcast is analog, this additional information may be encoded in the VBI (vertical blanking interval). If the broadcast is digital, additional information may be multiplexed with the audio and video according to a standard format, such as MPEG-2, or a proprietary format.
Interactive television systems provide a means to deliver interactive content as well as ordinary television audio and video to a large number of subscribers. Programs broadcast by these systems may incorporate television audio and video, still images, text, interactive graphics and applications, and many other components. The interactive content of the interactive television signal may therefore include application code, data associated with the audio and video, control signals, raw data and many other types of information. Both the interactive content and the audio and video data may be delivered to subscribers as “pushed” data. That is, the data is delivered to each of the subscribers, regardless of whether or not the subscribers requested the data.
As interactive television technology advances, it is possible to provide more personalized services to individual users. For example, it may be possible for a interactive television user to schedule the recording of various television programs well in advance of their broadcasting, as well as scheduling specific times for their playback. Furthermore, it may be possible for a user to receive notifications for upcoming programs that are of similar content to those that have been recorded in the past.
Although interactive television may provide a number of services, such as those noted above, additional capabilities may be possible using existing interactive television technologies, or by combining other technologies with interactive television.